The present invention relates to an ink jet printer.
An ink jet printer is provided with a recording head which includes nozzle holes, driving means (for example, a piezoelectric oscillator or a heating element) which causes an ink to be ejected from the nozzle holes, and control means which controls the driving means according to data. The supply of the ink to the nozzle holes is performed using a liquid accommodation body (for example, an ink cartridge or the like); and normally, the ink cartridge can be replaced.
The recording quality of the ink jet printer depends on a nozzle density of the recording head which is defined by the diameter, the number and the like of the nozzle holes; however, in addition to this, the recording quality is also influenced by the type or the viscosity of the ink, the wetting condition of the ink on a recording medium, and the like.
In addition, when bubbles or a precipitate are present in the ink, there is a case in which the ejecting of the ink from the nozzle holes becomes unstable, and there is a case in which the stability of the apparatus also influences the recording quality. Therefore, there is also a case in which ejection stability can be obtained by suctioning the ink from the nozzle holes (referred to as cleaning), for example. For example, in JP-A-11-048491, JP-A-11-048492, and JP-A-11-048493, an ink jet printer provided with a deaeration mechanism has been proposed, and discharging of the bubbles and the like has been attempted. These documents disclose that the gas that is dissolved in the ink is deaerated by the deaeration mechanism, and stable ejecting performance is obtained and the like.